Looking after the house in an estate left to charity
The house is usually the largest asset in a residuary estate and the slowest to turn into money. We secure it, insure it, record what is in it, clear it and see it through to sale, and we write every stage down, so the legacy team can see how the property was managed and how the sale price was reached.
We usually work through the solicitor acting for the charity or the estate. Where a charity is acting as executor itself, or the property has passed to it, the legacy team can instruct us directly.
77
charity estates on our current caseload
27
charities named on those estates
5 days
median from instruction to the property being secured
£17.4m
in agents’ valuations on the 59 charity properties appraised so far
From the Prospect PS case record, October 2026.
Estates left to these charities
These are the 27 charities named on our case record, as executor or beneficiary of an estate whose property we look after or have looked after. Every one of these instructions came through a solicitor acting for the charity or for the estate.
Acorns Children's Hospice
Bransby Horses
British Heart Foundation
Brooke
Cancer Research UK
Cats Protection
Dogs Trust
Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity
Guide Dogs
Macmillan Cancer Support
National Trust
North Wales Wildlife Trust
PDSA
RNLI
Royal British Legion
RSPB
RSPCA
Save the Children
St Luke's Hospice Plymouth
Stroke Association
Surrey Wildlife Trust
Tenovus Cancer Care
The Donkey Sanctuary
The Salvation Army
WaterAid
Woodland Trust
WWF-UK
Charity names and logos are the trademarks of their owners. They are shown to identify the charities on our case record and do not imply that any charity endorses Prospect PS.
Just a personal note to thank you for the excellent work you and your team carried out for us in Yorkshire recently. Your diligence, expertise and prompt attention were hugely appreciated. Please do pass my thanks to your colleagues, too.
Jenny Alexander
NATIONAL TRUST LEGACY ADMINISTRATION TEAM
Through the charity’s solicitor, or directly
Either way the charity gets the same service and the same reports. What changes is who instructs us, and so who the reports go to and who makes the decisions on the property.
Through the charity’s solicitor
This is the usual route. The firm acting for the charity or the estate instructs us, approves any works and chooses the agent, and every report goes to the firm. The legacy team sees the same record through the firm, and the firm runs the file as it always has.
Directly from the charity
Where the charity is the executor and its own legacy team is administering the estate, or the property has already passed to the charity, the legacy team can instruct us itself. The reports, quotes and appraisals then come straight to the legacy officer, and we copy in the charity’s solicitor wherever the charity asks us to.
The property side of the administration, written down
A legacy officer is usually the person furthest from the house. These are the things they ask about, and each one is on the case record, dated and with the name of whoever attended.
Secured from the first visit
Locks changed to British Standard, services isolated, the water drained down and the property made insurable, usually within days of the instruction. Insurance inspections then follow at whatever interval the policy requires.
Post read and listed
Every item of post found at the property goes into a Paperwork Review: what it is, what it says and what needs doing. On six charity estates so far, the reviews listed 26 accounts and holdings with last printed balances totalling £998,821.
Contents recorded before anything moves
An itemised, photographed inventory and valuation of the contents, so anything of value is found before a clearance and goods given to charity can be listed on HMRC’s IHT408.
Cleared by our own staff
Most clearances are carried out by our own employed, DBS-checked operatives. Where a contractor is needed, two or three quotes go to whoever instructed us, and they choose.
Valuation and sale on the record
Three local agents value the property independently and the appraisal sets their figures side by side. Whoever instructs us chooses the agent, and offers are recorded through to completion. Where a formal valuation is needed, we arrange a RICS Red Book valuation.
One record, start to finish
Every visit, report, quote and decision sits on one case record, dated and with the name of whoever attended, and at the end it is bundled into a single Case Completion Pack for the file.
Nothing to pay until the estate can
We fund the work on the property and invoice the estate once funds are available. If an estate proves insolvent, we write our invoice off, so there is no cost to the charity or the other beneficiaries.
If your firm acts for charities
A charity’s legacy team asks two things about a property: how it was looked after, and how the sale price was reached. We give the firm a record that answers both on every estate, from the first visit to completion, without adding to the firm’s own work.
The instruction stays with the firm, the decisions stay with the firm, and the charity hears about the property through the firm.
Corporate Partner of the Institute of Legacy Management
The ILM is the membership body for the people who administer gifts left to charities in wills.
Frequently asked questions
Both. Most charity estates reach us through the solicitor acting for the charity or the estate, and the firm stays in charge of the file. Where a charity is acting as executor itself, or the property has passed to the charity, its legacy team can instruct us directly and the reports go to them.
Looking after a property in a charity estate?
Tell us where it is and who is instructing. We will tell you what the first visit covers and when we can be there.